


Christmas In The Air

by IBoatedHere



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Tree, Established Relationship, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 15:28:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9278024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IBoatedHere/pseuds/IBoatedHere
Summary: Snowflakes swirl around them as Jack follows Bitty through the maze of trees.





	

Snowflakes swirl around them as Jack follows Bitty through the maze of trees.

Jack stays a few steps behind because after three hours and four different tree lots he knows how Bitty operates.

He’ll stop in front of a tree, look it up and down, shake his head, and keep walking.

Jack slammed right into the back of him the first few times and had to catch Bitty by the waist to keep him and the two coffee cups he’s holding from toppling over.

Only one of the coffees belongs to him. Peppermint mocha. Sweet and sugary. _Like_ _Christmas in a cup,_ or so Bitty claims.

The other is Jack’s straight black, handed over to him when Bitty started to complain that his hands were getting cold. Every so often he’ll forget which is which and take a sip from the wrong cup and Jack barely manages to stop himself from laughing out loud at the look on Bitty’s face when he realizes his mistake. Bitty just rolls his eyes and holds the cup out to Jack so he can take a sip.

Jack’s own hands are cold.

His feet hurt.

There’s a chill working it’s way into his bones that only a heavy blanket, chicken noodle soup, and Bitty’s head on his shoulder will cure.

But he’s content to let Bitty hold both cups and follow him around, row after row, lot after lot for as long as it takes.

Bitty stops in front of a tree and Jack stops two feet behind him. Bitty slowly looks it up and down and then starts to circle it and Jack holds his breath because this is new. This could be it. This could be their tree.

But then Bitty is shaking his head and saying no and he’s off again with Jack trailing behind him.

“What was wrong with that one? It looked good to me.”

He’s fairly certain they’ve been down this row before but he can’t be sure.

“It had a giant hole on one side. We can’t have that.”

“Couldn’t we have just put that side against the wall?”

Bitty doesn’t say anything but the look he tosses over his shoulder tells Jack all he needs to know.

“I just don’t know about any of these trees,” Bitty says after stopping and starting a handful of times more. “What do you think?”

Jack thinks all the trees look the same. That after you slap some lights and some ornaments on them they’d all look great in the apartment.

He points to the tree on his left. “What about this one?”

Bitty turns on his heels and squints at it. “Too narrow.”

“Okay,” Jack says and points to the tree on his right. “This one?”

“Too full.”

“Okay,” Jack says slowly. “What about this one?”

“Too tall.”

“We could just cut some off the bottom.” He means it as a joke. He smiles and blows into his hands to warm them up and when Bitty stops in front of him Jack is already trying to figure out what’s wrong with the next tree.

“I’m sorry, Jack.”

It throws him. “Sorry for what?”

Bitty turns and Jack hates the look on his face. Cautious and embarrassed and Jack’s moving to stand toe to toe in front of him before he even has time to think about it.

“What are you sorry for?”

“Dragging you out here. Making you follow after me for hours on end.” Bitty draws his bottom lip between his teeth and looks down at his feet.

“I’m pretty sure I’d follow after you forever, Bits.”

Bitty laughs but his shoulders slump and Jack can’t figure out if he’s said the right or wrong thing.

“Why are you like this? Why are you so nice to me when I’m being so unreasonable? It’s just a dumb tree.”

Jack reaches out and pulls Bitty’s knit hat down over his ears. He leaves his hands on his shoulders. “It’s more than just a tree, isn’t it?”

Bitty sniffles and Jack pulls him against his chest. The coffee is warm between them.

“I just want everything to be perfect. This is our first Christmas together.”

“No it’s not.” They’ve been together for years now. They’ve had Christmas together before.

“It is though. It’s the first Christmas we can celebrate. _Together_.”

“Oh.”

It’s the first Christmas Jack can take Bitty to Christmas parties and not have to introduce him as an old college teammate. The first Christmas that Bitty can post pictures on Instagram of the two of them kissing beneath mistletoe. That they can hold hands as they window shop and try to figure out what to get Shitty. That Jack can hold him just as he’s holding him now and not worry about who sees.

“You think a tree is going to make it perfect?”

“It’s the little things.”

The little things are the Christmas parties and the pictures and window shopping. Waking up beside him everyday. Making breakfast and lunch and dinner and a million other things.

Jack pulls Bitty away from him then takes the coffee and sets it at their feet so he can link their fingers together.

“We don’t need a tree to make it perfect, Bits. We’re together.”

“But that’s not-.”

Jack kisses him. Chapped lips against chapped lips and that’s one of the little things too.

“Enough,” Bitty finishes when they separate but he’s starting to look like he doesn’t really believe it anymore.

Good.

“We could have the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree for all I care, Bits.”

“I think we both deserve better than that.”

“Then we’ll look for as long as it takes. Do you want to go back to the last lot? They had some good trees there. You might have been too quick to judge.”

Bitty doesn’t answer. He leans in and wraps his arms around Jack’s waist and buries his face into his chest.

It’s a little thing.

And it’s perfect.


End file.
